Girl Crush

Chapter 21

 On Wednesday, Dani went through the lunch line, relieved when she saw it was pizza day. Finally, something edible. Gripping her tray, she made her way toward the Hellfire table and paused when she saw Chrissy was sitting there today. She had three choices in front of her. One, she could dart out of there as fast as possible and go hide and eat outside. Two, she could go over to Robin's table instead and try to come up with some excuse for Eddie as to why she didn't eat with him on his designated day. Or three, she could just suck it up and go eat over there like she was supposed to.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to go with option number three and suck it up. If she was going to get past this, then she was going to have to face it. Eddie was with Chrissy. She wasn't going to magically disappear but it would look very suspicious if Dani suddenly did. She would be left with no plausible explanation for why she didn't want to eat with them and she couldn't tell him the truth. Eddie could be relentless when he knew something was up and she couldn't risk him pushing too hard.

She had spent the last two evenings with Steve and was hoping that would guard her against any irrational feelings she may have. She was so content when she was with Steve that she could forget what a disaster her life had become recently. He really was almost perfect, like he had been sculpted out of all things good and wonderful. Monday night they grabbed pizza and watched a movie at his place, cuddling on his couch under a blanket until they both fell asleep. She had been late getting home but her mom had been understanding. Tuesday he had taken her roller skating. She had been quite impressed with his skills on wheels.

What they hadn't done was talk about what had almost happened two nights ago. Dani had fully expected for him to make another attempt after the first one had been so gloriously interrupted but he hadn't. She had made it clear she was okay with taking the next step so she just assumed he would want to have another go at it as soon as possible. They had cuddled and made out but he had not attempted anything beyond that. Dani didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed. Had he changed his mind about wanting her? Eddie's words kept poking at her brain and she internally flicked them away, annoyed at how he consumed her thoughts constantly. She'd been so sure she was ready until he'd opened his big mouth and planted doubts.

"Ohh, pizza today," Eddie commented as she set her tray down at the table, "Dani will actually eat something."

"Do you not usually eat?" Chrissy asked in confusion, taking a bite of her salad. It was in a tupperware container. Clearly, someone else who was organized enough to actually pack their lunch before school.

"I don't like the food at school, but for some reason, I keep getting it," Dani said, shrugging. "I'm just too lazy in the morning to pack a lunch. I always buy it, hoping it might be something edible but more often than not, it's not. Their version of what passes as food here should be labeled a biohazard."

Chrissy cringed, "Yeah, I've seen it. I know what you mean. Maybe try packing your lunch the night before. That's what I do. Then I can just grab it and go in the morning."

Dani smiled, "Yeah, I probably should. That's a good idea." She knew she wouldn't but she was trying to be friendly. If Eddie could hang out with Steve, she could hang out with Chrissy. She could manage casual conversation.

"So Dani, I saw you and Steve at the roller rink last night," Dustin said, a big goofy grin on his face. "You two were pretty cozy, holding hands and smooching and skating. I gotta say, I didn't think Steve had skills on skates. He was a regular disco queen out there."

"Oh, you guys went skating!" Chrissy exclaimed, turning to Eddie. "I love roller skating. Jason and I used to go, like, once a week with all of our friends. Eddie, we should..."